Dōemon Hariyama
Dōemon Hariyama (頗梨山堂右衛門, Hariyama Dōemon) is the leader of the Shinjin in the Human World. He is a former member of the Detention Corps of the Onmitsukidō, as well as a 12th Division Captain Candidate of the Gotei 13. History Origins Dōemon was taken in by parents he never knew in Ketsurui (血涙, Blood Tears), the 76th District in South Rukongai, as a toddler. However, as soon as they discovered Dōemon’s spiritual power, and resulting hunger, they abandoned him, for they couldn’t support a mouth. Growing up, Dōemon wandered from family to family, all who eventually threw him out due to his hunger. All the while Dōemon was drifting from family to family, he was making his way inwards towards the Seireitei. He had heard stories of the wealth and food increasing towards the magnificent city, and wanted to see for himself. Ikkoku Senkin Hungry and weak, Dōemon stumbled upon a grand hall, and began begging at its gate for food. Believing himself to be at the Seireitei, Dōemon tries to flex his spiritual pressure to impress whoever is inside, but manages to weaken himself almost to unconsciousness. At this instant, a child about his age emerges and a kicks Dōemon in the gut, knocking him out. Dōemon wakes up in a small bed with a meal set out for him. He scarfs it down, and can feel life around him, sensing other spiritual pressures for the first time. Dōemon tries to sneak around the compound, but is attacked by the same child again. Dōemon puts up a fight this time, and feels his body empowered like it never has been before. His strength seems to surprise his opponent, and before Dōemon can deliver a decisive blow, they are interrupted by an adult figure incapacitating them both. The man asks Dōemon if he likes what he can do now that he has spiritual pressure. The man sits Dōemon and the other child down, and gives an explanation. They are in fact not in Seireitei, but only about the half way mark. Dōemon is in Tsurubushi (鶴伏, Prostrate Crane), District #40 in South Rukongai at the Ikkokusenkin Dōjō. The man is Bakura Tsunebokoro, and the child is his student, Ishiya Makeguma. Bakura agrees to feed Dōemon if he trains alongside Ishiya in the art of Bakura’s Senkin-ryū. Ishiya, who had only been there for a year before Dōemon showed up, sees Dōemon as an intense rival. However, as they train together, Dōemon and Ishiya become the closest of friends. With a martial arts foundation under their belt thanks to Bakura, the two graduate from his dōjō to continue refining their powers at the Shin’ō Reijutsuin. Onmitsukidō Dōemon achieved his highest grades at Shin’ō in Hakuda, something he attributed to his foundational martial arts training at the Ikkoku Senkin Dōjō. Due to his stellar performance in the realm of Hakuda, upon his graduation from Shin’ō, he was placed in the Detention Unit of the Onmitsukidō along with his life-time friend and rival, Ishiya Makeguma. In the Detention Unit, the two Soul Reapers trained under the Gotei 13’s Second Division Third Seat, Kisuke Urahara. Despite the Detention Unit’s focus on Hakuda and Hōhō, Dōemon and Ishiya trained extensively in Zanjutsu under their new sensei Urahara. It was during this time that Dōemon earned the nickname “Dōi~” (ドウイー) from Urahara. By practicing Jinzen over time, Dōemon learns the name of his zanpakuto as well as its release command, and achieves Shikai before Ishiya. Dōemon’s zanpakuto is named Karachiyū, and because of its unique abilities, Dōemon’s training sped up exponentially upon awakening Shikai. Karachikyū has the power to absorb things into Dōemon’s inner world, allowing him to physically enter his own inner world and do battle with Karachikyū (nicknamed Karato, 空人)。This created a more intense connection than Jinzen could. In this manner, Dōemon and Karato could spar in Hakuda and Zanjutsu. This firmer connection between himself and his Zanpakutō spirit allowed Dōemon to finally and decisively exceed Ishiya, whose Zanpakutō was more conventional. Upon’s Urahara’s promotion to Captain of the 12th Division, Dōemon resigned from the Onmitsukido. With ambitions of becoming a Transcendent being and breaking down the barriers between Shinigami and Zanryō, Dōemon decided to train with Karato indefinitely, to achieve a release beyond Bankai. And so, Dōemon retreated into his inner world, and Urahara used a Kidō to reseal Karachiyū into its Asauchi form, which was kept with Ishiya. The status of Dōemon was known only to Urahara, Ishiya, and Yoruichi Shihōin. Soon, Urahara and Yoruichi were forced to defect from Soul Society. As a result, Sui Feng was promoted to Second Division Captain and Commander of the Onmitsukido. She appointed her cousin Gao Feng as her Third Seat and Captain of the Detention Unit. With this new leadership, Ishiya hid away Karachikyū, and served Gao without revealing his loyalty to Urahara. As such, Dōemon was stuck within his own inner world, with no choice but to continue training with Karato. Canon Timeline Soul Society Arc During the Ryoka Invasion, Ishiya tries to reach the invaders to get word on Urahara after witnessing Yoruichi and Sui-Feng's battle. This causes his true allegiance to be questioned, and Gao Feng swiftly imprisons Ishiya. Both Ishiya and Dōemon seemed doomed. 17 Month Timeskip After the defeat and imprisonment of Sōsuke Aizen, Kisuke Urahara’s reputation is restored. However, Urahara isn’t able to get Ishiya released. Sui-Feng is intensely traditional, and in addition to disliking Urahara in general, even though he’d been innocent the whole time, Ishiya was still disloyal to Gao. The Feng Cousins were unaware of Dōemon, and Kisuke was becoming increasingly interested in what such an intense Jinzen-like training would create over this many years. Thousand Year Blood War Arc It wouldn’t be until the outbreak of the Quincy Blood War that Ishiya would be released back into the Onmitsukido ranks. ''Rohana'' Shinjin Event After Yhwach’s ultimate defeat 10 years after the end of the war, Urahara flirted with the idea of expanding his shop with the increasing of powerful people in the Jureichi area. Kazui Kurosaki was immensely unique, and both Yuzu and Karin Kurosaki’s powers were growing as well. These advances, in addition to the Shinjin Event in the Soul Society, left Urahara wanting a partner in the Human World. Urahara was interested in the Shinjin, and didn’t wan t them executed, so he finally approached Ishiya to find Karachikyū (nicknamed Karaji, 空子). Ishiya led Urahara to the Ikkoku Senkin Dōjō in Tsurubushi, where Karachikyū had been hidden for years. Urahara released the seal on the Asauchi, which immediately sprang to Shikai. Reiatsu swelled, and an older, battered Dōemon emerged into his old dōjō in Rukongai. Urahara felt it was an experience akin to witnessing Ichigo Kurosaki emerge from the Dangai before he defeated Aizen. Dōemon appeared much older, his beard and hair had grown unchecked, and his shihakusho had been destroyed, leaving him in only white pants. Ishiya and even Urahara couldn’t sense his power. Though Kisuke was eager to see how he’d evolved, the Shinjin were in need. Dōemon was a powerful shinigami, who no longer fit in with the stealth-focused Onmitsukidō. He helped defeat Mayuri Kurotsuchi and the Kōtenjin. After Mayuri’s defeat, Dōemon was offered the Twelfth Division Captaincy by Captain-Commander Kyōraku. Dōemon seemed content with the offer, but once Central 46 handed down the execution orders for all the Shinjin, Dōemon instead used his powers to spirit the Shinjin away to the Human World. Though most of the Shinigami were disturbed by the existence of the Shinjin, they didn’t agree with the decree to have them executed, and as such, most Shinigami respected Dōemon’s sacrifice. Some even likened it to his Sensei Urahara’s sacrifice 130 years prior. In the Human World, Dōemon becomes the leader and master of the Shinjin. Powers and Abilities Simply by his standing as a candidate for the Twelfth Division Captaincy, Dōemon Hariyama is a powerful Shinigami. However, this is a gross understatement. Dōemon is a Transcendent being who has torn down the barriers between Shinigami and Zanryō, and as such, has broken through the limits of his existence and entereted a new plain above Shinigami. As such, he is in a league with other prominent Transcendent Shinigami Sōsuke Aizen and Ichigo Kurosaki. However, comparatively Dōemon is much stronger. Aizen spent a little over a confirmed year with the Hōgyoku in his chest, and was able to go toe-to-toe with the demigod Yhwach. Ichigo, in order to defeat (a weaker) Aizen, spent three months in his inner world subjugating his combined Shi-Ho-Qu powers. By comparison, Dōemon spent one hundred and fifty years ''in his inner world, not just spiritually, but physically, breaking through barriers that most Shinigami were unaware even existed. As such, he was able to casually go toe-to-toe with the mid-tier Captain level Kōtenjin. Master Swordsman Transcendent Spiritual Power As one of the strongest Shinigami of his own liftetime, Dōemon possess absolutely baffling spiritual power. He is a being that has achieved the state of a Transcendent, and as such, he stands in a class akin to that of Yhwach and the Sōsuke Aizen after the latter's fusion with the Hōgyoku. In terms of coloration, Doemon’s reiatsu is black and grey, invoking the scene of a terrible hurricane that has been raging violently for centuries. His reiatsu has been likened to a “living disaster” boring down on a person, possessing the potential to tear souls apart into nothingness. *''Reiatsu Control: ''As a Transcendent Shinigami, Dōemon has absolute control of his reiatsu. While his reiatsu is his own spiritual power exerted, he has the power to infuse it with his own mind and essence. Like most Shinigami, Dõemon can use his reiatsu to release Bloodlust (殺気, ''sakki). Similar to Kenpachi Zaraki, Dōemon’s Bloodlust is so thick and full it can cause full-on illusions of death and destruction to those weak enough to be caught up on in it. On the opposite end of the spectrum from Bloodlust, Dōemon also possesses an ability he calls Ambition (覇気, haki) which he claims was born from his ambition at a young age to achieve a form beyond Bankai, and then having that ambition come to fruition. Ambition, as Doemon explains it, is his reiatsu’s ability to exert control over the world around him. This allows him to manipulate nature, the world around him, and even Reishi on par with Transcendent Quincy. Martial Arts Master Supernatural Strength Supernatural Endurance Supernatural Durability Konsō Zanjutsu Category:Characters Category:Rohana